The Malik Report

Updated w/ highlights and stats: Wings are taking Thursday off. They need the breather: This one ain't right. Whatever happened, the Detroit Red Wings' players owe Jimmy Howard much, much more than a couple of goals over however long what the media is deeming "four games along the Hawks' road to the inevitable Penguins-Hawks Cup Final."

The Detroit Red Wings plain old didn't show up for the second half of a game that could have been theirs...Until they stopped skating and started standing around and staring as the Chicago Blackhawks skated miles around them and easily lapped up all the turnovers, loose pucks and Brendan Smith gaffes that were handed to them en route to a 4-1 win in which the Red Wings' goaltender had to face an utterly stupid 41 shots--with 35 coming in the second and third periods--while his teammates put a measly 14 on Corey Crawford.

It doesn't really matter if the Hawks are "better" over the long haul, or are supposedly on an inevitable course for a series sweep. What matters tonight is that this game was tied 1-1 from the 10:57 mark of the 1st period until the 8:02 mark of the 3rd, and instead of taking the initiative, the Wings stopped playing...

And now they can thank the TV scheduling gods for having two days to reset, finally step up to the puck possession plate and understand that it's not about what the Hawks can do alone--it's about what the Red Wings HAVE to do to, as Ken Daniels just said on FSD, rope-a-dope their way to surprising spoiler wins.

I get that the Wings were still probably halfway through Game 7 of the Wings-Ducks series mentally...But nothing excuses being out-shot 42-21, being out-scored on the power play 1-0 in the same 3 chances.

The Wings got out-hustled, out-ground, out-worked and out-detailed, and it wasn't just Brendan Smith who looked vulnerable on the opening Hossa goal and thereafter...

And even if the Wings didn't out-hit Chicago 43-24, as the stat sheet suggests, the Wings fired 21 shots on Corey Crawford and another 25 wide or into Hawks players, while Chicago had 42 on Howard and another 26 wide/blocked...All because Chicago had the puck.

This is a series of puck possession and the Wings chased it all night long. If the Wings control it, they stand a chance in this series. If not...They're in trouble.

Highlights ain't pretty:

Statistics:

Shots 42-21 Chicago overall. Detroit out-shot Chicago 7-6 in the 1st but were out-shot 17-5 in the 2nd and 19-9 in the 3rd.

The Wings went 0-for-3 in 6:00 of PP time; the Hawks went 1-for-3 in 3:42 of PP time.

Jimmy Howard stopped 38 of 41 shots, and the Hawks' last goal was an empty-netter; Corey Crawford stopped 20 of 21.

The 3 stars were picked by "Chicago media," and they picked Johnny Oduya, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp.

Faceoffs: Datsyuk went 10-and-8; (56%)Andersson went 8-and-7 (53%); Zetterberg went 7-and-3 (70%); Filppula went 3-and-7 (30%); Emmerton went 3-and-3 (50%); Franzen lost his only faceoff; Abdelkader won his only faceoff.

Hits: Abdelkader led the team with 8 hits; Cleary had 6; Ericsson had 5; Zetterberg had 4; Eaves and Franzen had 3; Smith, Emmerton and Colaiacovo had 2; Kindl, Datsyuk, Nyquist, Brunner, Quincey, Bertuzzi, Kronwall and Andersson had 1.

Get Smith the hell out of there, get White or someone else who doesn’t turn the puck over as much in there…. damn…

Posted by
red_wings_49
from Mad Heights, MI on 05/15/13 at 09:55 PM ET

Watching from work, random thoughts:
One of the few times I thought something before the commentators (and you probably did, too)
1. “Funny, they’re double teaming that Blackhawk. I hope that his man isn’t open,... uh, oh. “
2. “Funny, why is Howard trying to get the puck off the net,... he could get tied up with it and,... uh, oh.”

3. I’m hoping it’s just because the Wings are physically and mentally fatigued in Game 1. Chicago’s passes looked sharper, the skating looked faster, they forechecked more/better, they seemed to win a lot of 50-50 battles. The Wings just looked slow a lot of the game.

4. I just realized (you probably did, too) why they’re not playing Friday night in Chicago. The NBA got their games set first. If the Chicago Bulls won tonight, for example, they would have had the arena for Friday. The Knicks/Rangers is the other potential schedule alterer (and the fact that 3 series are in the Eastern U.S. doesn’t allow doubleheaders if they had 2 west coast series).

5. Despite the stuck puck, Howard tried to steal this one. I’m a bit more confident in him after tonight, aren’t you?

6. As I said before, I still think the Wings’ only chance (outside of Howard standing on his head) is how good their team defense is. They can produce their offense off the transition once they can get the puck and hold onto it, not when they look like chickens with their heads cut off in their own zone, chasing (credit Chicago on this one).

7. Mr. Smith, talk to Mr. Fippula about how it feels to be the target for poor play. I’m not sure if I would dare substitute him out for ?White??, but he needs the next few days to recover from this.

8. Chicago’s game plan seems pretty simple. Attack the weakness, which is the defense, and forecheck them into oblivion. Your move, Mr. Babcock.

Back to work. 3 days for the Wings to regroup, rest, and hopefully steal Game 2. It’s only one game, it’s only one game….

Doesn’t matter how well Jimmy plays or how well the D doesn’t… if you don’t score more than 1 goal you will lose 90% of the time. If players like Mule, Filpula, Bert and others don’t score this series is over in 5.

Posted by
calquake
from a.k.a. Uniquake, workin' on my manifesto on 05/15/13 at 10:41 PM ET

Dunno crimsonphoenix.
I thought the same thing george did. It looked like the wings mailed in the third period. I didn’t see any hustle or much effort. It was to first period I really saw people standing around and losing assignments. It really started with the forwards, I think. At least that was where I noticed it first. I will say, after the 87billion th time Smith failed to clear, someone must have said something to him because I thought he improved, at least for a while.
The may have been tired, but after the second goal, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say Howard was on his own. I bet his save % was well over 95% before he just couldn’t do it all.

This might be a sign: nearly in tears ‘cause I want to get back to normal working hours and write up a full wrap-up after 3 weeks absent due to norovirus bug, but my body is crashing and I’m gonna have to take the boss’s advice to leave things be with the quick take.

George, we don’t want you on LTIR so don’t come back too early, we’ll survive.

Posted by
calquake
from a.k.a. Uniquake, workin' on my manifesto on 05/15/13 at 10:59 PM ET

Been on LTIR with Paul pinch-hitting for 3 weeks. I’m tired of it and tired of the excuses for my own damn self. I want to get back up to speed and just work…But the body’s saying that I’m not quite there yet. I’m sorry and sorry to sound dramatic. I just haven’t been this sick since the last time I had this bug…and before that, when I was a kid. It’s been shitty.

George, we understand. Get well, take your time, work w/your doc. If we find the instant cure for the Wings defense (and offense), we’ll ship you a bottle FedEx to help you. We know how strongly you feel of doing your work and being a part of the Wings community. Do the best you can to stay patient in the midst of all this.

If a 6’2” 225 lb martial artist beats the crap out of a 5’10” 180 pound regular guy, did the guy not show up?

Posted by HockeyinHD on 05/16/13 at 07:32 AM ET

Inclined to agree with this sentiment.

The Hawks are in a different universe than the Wings. I think the effort was there, I just think the Wings talent level was exposed for what it is: way lower than Chicago’s. Add to that the fact that some of their young D are in way over their heads and you have a recipe for last night.

You can’t really be too upset about it. It was and still is going to take a miracle for the Wings to make this a series.

Chicago is a great, great team, and likely the eventual Stanley Cup champion.

Same story, different series. Wings have been beat in the third just about every game of this post season. Through the first series, Jimmy rocked a .945 SV% through 40, but only .820 in third periods. It’s not that he’s not standing on his head. It’s just that at a certain point, the levee breaks.

Gotta be more responsible with the puck in our own zone. Gotta spend more time playing at the other end of the ice. Speed through the neutral zone. We can get it done.

Posted by
CaptNorris5
from The Winged Wheel, stuck in Chicago on 05/16/13 at 07:49 AM ET

This all being said, Wings were tied at 1 almost half way through the 3rd period. Datsyuk has partial break away in the first and tries to pass to Franzen - play gets killed. Cleary has a clear lane to the net in the first on power play and tries to pass. Cleary picks the pocket of O’Duya behind Hawks net and then loses it back to him in the 3rd period. Hawks score 35 seconds later. Teams that beat Chicago put pucks on net and then get after it. Didn’t happen last night.

The Wings defense was brutal and couldn’t move pucks out to the forwards from 2nd period on, resulting in an onslaught of pressure in their own zone. I do think the Wings have peaked though and while they may steal a game or two, the Wings don’t have what it takes to beat the Hawks which is fast forwards with size, ala Avdelkader that can make ear defense cough up the puck.

You can say the Wings were right there for most of the game, but that was all Jimmy. The defensive zone play in general was horrid last night. Way too passive in everything they did. From giving away the blue line like it was their virginity on prom night, to collapsing down on Jimmy and giving the Hawks all the time in the world to make a play with the puck even from barely outside the circles. Too many guys waiting for loose pucks to get to them and not enough guys taking the puck by the balls and forcing it out of the zone. Everything the Wings did in their zone last night reeked of “oh crap, don’t lose this game”.

Offensively the second line was completely invisible, and as a whole there never seemed to be anyone in Crawford’s grill like there was with Hiller during most of game 7. Yes, guys went to the hard places at times but as whole not enough players were willing to pay a price for the entire game.

This looked like the mid-season Wings, and it was brutal. That being said, it’s just one game and I fully expect the Wings to bounce back on Saturday. They just looked really hung over from game 7. You can’t just assume Chicago will play as well the rest of the series as they did the second half of last night’s game. The Wings certainly can’t play much worse. This series is still far from over.

Teams that beat Chicago put pucks on net and then get after it. Didn’t happen last night.

I agree completely.

As much as I like Andersson, Brunner’s “floater” over Crawford probably would have gone in if Joakim had attacked the net the way Hawks forwards do. Pressuring the defenseman most likely would have prevented him from getting his stick on the puck. And that goal might have been a game-changer.

Andersson will learn, and guys like Smith will eventually figure out how to play their position without peeing their pants. But this series isn’t long enough for all of the “kids” to transform into playoff-caliber men. Maybe next year.

Having said that, I still think this series would be considerably different if DK hadn’t broken his thumb. Just plain old bad luck right there.

Babbles says there’s no way Pavel is leaving after next season. I have a feeling that Datsyuk saw the team declining, and had fun playing in Russia during the lockout…and that is why he said what he said in January.

but with the way things are going, the way the young guys are stepping up, maybe that’ll change Pavel’s mind and remind him that he has a very good chance of winning another Cup in Detroit before he retires from the NHL.

I sort of expected this from the Wings last night because there’s something about a two-day break between games that seems to vex the Wings all season long and it looks like the trend carried over into the playoffs. I cannot explain it all. They just looked nonchalant, I guess?

If anything that made me pretty damn angry other than the persistent turnovers and lack of secondary chances, it was Hoss. Fuch that buttmunch. I would love to have been Kronner’s stick just to hear what Kronner said to him about that abominable dive. Hossa’s a man amongst boys on that team and he acted like that? Fuch.Hossa.

Posted by
SYF
from Twerkin' with Anastasia Ashley on 05/16/13 at 11:36 AM ET

Posted by
SYF
from Twerkin' with Anastasia Ashley on 05/16/13 at 12:19 PM ET

My guess is that the official scorer for Give/Takeaways is one of those great 85+-year-old guys that have been with the organization since they were 15, and in the time he takes to look down at his sheet, find the player name and make a tally mark, he probably missed another 8 or 9.

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The Malik Report is a destination for all things Red Wings-related. I offer biased, perhaps unprofessional-at-times and verbose coverage of my favorite team, their prospects and developmental affiliates. I've joined the Kukla's Korner family with five years of blogging under my belt, and I hope you'll find almost everything you need to follow your Red Wings at a place where all opinions are created equal and we're all friends, talking about hockey and the team we love to follow.